Nutricosmetics: True or Too Much?

So the latest industry buzz—from presentations at the second annual Beauty From Within conference to blogs on mainstream news media sites such as the L.A. Times—is all about nutricosmetics. Do they work? What kind of marketing claims should beauty-from-within companies make? Are the current product claims too big and bold? It seems the overall consensus is slow down, breathe and take a step away from the claims.

Euromonitor’s head of global health and wellness, Ewa Hudson, said Asia—specifically Japan and China— are still the ring leaders of beauty from within, but Europe and the United States have expansion potential. However, Peter Wennstrom, president of Healthy Marketing Team, had the gold nugget of advice: “You can’t just jump into the beauty benefits of the product without explaining how the products work," he said, as reported by CosmeticsDesign.com. Wennstrom and others advised companies not to focus on product claims, but more how the product works. This tactic is more effective than overreaching promises.

L.A. Times writer Chris Woolston discussed Proleva—a nutricosmetic supplement from Allmera Nutraceuticals that delivers several antioxidants from green tea, resveratrol, goji berries, etc.—that claims to provide “youthful, glowing skin." But Woolston’s “bottom line" doubts Proleva (and other beauty supplements) can live up to their big claims.

“The products are over-hyped," Patricia Farris, M.D., a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology told the Times. “Only a few studies show that you can improve the appearance of skin with any type of supplement."

However, there are placebo-controlled studies that show plant-based supplements do enhance skin. So the point doesn’t seem to be that nutricosmetics don’t work, but rather the claims surrounding nutricosmetics need to be toned down and focused more on how rather than what.